2025 ReFED Food Waste Solutions Summit
June 23-25, 2025 | Seattle, WA
Hyatt Regency Seattle
Minnie Ringland
Manager, Climate & Insights
ReFED
Bio:
Minnie Ringland serves as ReFED’s Manager of Climate & Insights, working to improve ReFED’s understanding of the environmental impacts of wasted food and translate these findings to empower partners and solution providers. She also supports key data and insights programs, including updates of ReFED’s Insights Engine and food business measurement and reporting.
Minnie is a lifelong member of the “Clean Plate Club” and has cultivated an interest in sustainable food systems since college, where she led the Food Action Student Club in tackling food waste and nutrition issues. She holds a master’s degree from the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management (MESM) at UC Santa Barbara as well as a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Yale University.
Schedule
Wednesday, May 20
1:30pm - 2:30pm
"The Full Footprint: The Real Climate Cost of Food Waste and How to Talk About It"
Breakout
Food waste is a climate problem—but not just in the ways most people think. Its full environmental toll touches some of the most potent forces driving climate change. Methane and nitrous oxide, both superpollutants with warming potential far exceeding that of CO2, are released throughout the food waste lifecycle. Refrigerants used across the cold chain rank among the most harmful greenhouse gases on the planet. Synthetic fertilizers used to grow food that is never eaten carry their own enormous emissions footprint. And that's before accounting for the staggering volumes of water embedded in discarded food, or the social cost of carbon—a measure of the true economic harm of emissions. This session is designed to give attendees both the scientific grounding to understand these impacts and the messaging tools to communicate them in ways that are honest, accessible, and built to bring more people to the table.